-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- For 70 years , survivors of the December 7 , 1941 , attack on Pearl Harbor have captivated listeners with their firsthand accounts , recalling buddies who died in their arms or the glasses worn by a low-flying Japanese pilot .

They have participated in solemn wreath-laying ceremonies and spoken to civic groups and school children about the infamous day and the need for the United States to remain vigilant .

But the gradual loss of the World War II generation has accelerated , and this year , perhaps more than any before it , evidence of a tide change is inescapable .

The Pearl Harbor Survivors Association , founded in 1958 , is dissolving December 31 . The passing of time , the difficulty in finding chapter officers and the health of its 2,700 members have taken their toll .

`` We do n't like to see it happen , '' said George Bennett , 87 , the organization 's national secretary and a Pearl Harbor survivor . `` But we do n't have young members coming in like other organizations . '' Informal social and local activities will continue , he said .

About 84,000 uniformed Americans were on Oahu that fateful day . Only an estimated 8,000 are alive today -- and they are in their late 80s and older . Children and grandchildren have stepped up to carry the flag of their forefathers .

The Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors , with about 20 chapters , is helping to `` carry on the legacy left to us , '' said national president Louella Large , whose father served at the U.S. Army 's Schofield Barracks during the attack .

Large , like others , is concerned that most U.S. schoolchildren today know almost nothing about the surprise attack that pulverized battleships and aircraft stationed at Hawaii .

Flying from aircraft carriers , Japanese pilots attacked eight battleships , destroying two , and left a trail of death and destruction across the verdant landscape . About 2,400 people , most of them in the military , were killed . The attack shook America 's confidence and ushered the country into World War II .

About 120 Pearl Harbor survivors are registered to attend Wednesday morning 's annual memorial ceremony .

Four military and four civilian survivors will be on panels at a symposium that concludes Monday . No Japanese military veterans of the attack are able to be on hand for ceremonies honoring U.S. dead at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument .

Perspectives at the symposiums , held every five years , are shifting .

`` We were able in the past to -LRB- tell the story -RRB- through the mouths of those who saw it , '' said Lisa Ontai , spokeswoman for Pacific Historic Parks , an organization that assists the National Park Service . `` Now , we are showing it through experts who studied it over the years . ''

Among others traveling to Hawaii are families of two servicemen who died in the past two years .

Remains of Vernon Olsen , 91 , of Port Charlotte , Florida , will be interred Wednesday in the battleship USS Arizona , on which he served and where 1,117 sailors and Marines died in the attack .

Those of Lee Soucy , 90 , of Plainview , Texas , will be carried Tuesday by a diver to the USS Utah , which also is entombed off Ford Island .

`` I think it 's pretty awesome that we are getting to do this , '' said daughter Mary McCormick .

Soucy 's children also will spread ashes belonging to their father and mother , Peggy , at St. Andrew 's Episcopal Cathedral in Honolulu , where the pair were married in January 1945 . Peggy Soucy was a Navy nurse who met her future husband at Pearl Harbor .

Memorial ceremonies , boat and bus tours are taking place this week on Oahu . Veterans and others will converge on current and former military installations , including Hickam Field , Pearl Harbor , Wheeler Army Airfield and the Marine Corps base at Kaneohe Bay .

A Blu-ray version of the the 1970 film `` Tora ! Tora ! Tora ! '' with extended footage , was to be shown Sunday evening at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center , near the USS Arizona .

Historians say the passage of time is allowing for a broader , more objective look at the attack .

Research has provided new insights , particularly about the Japanese perspectives and source material on the attack . In recent years , interpretation also has shifted its focus `` from engagement to peace , '' with recognition that both sides fought a `` savage war , '' said Daniel A. Martinez , chief historian at the WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument .

' I harbor no ill will '

McCormick , 65 , of Amarillo , Texas , told CNN her father 's enlistment was due to expire December 7 , 1941 . Soucy , a pharmacist 's mate on the USS Utah , would vividly recall a peaceful Sunday morning that quickly turned to terror , she said .

`` He was looking out the port window and saw what he thought would be his last day there . He saw these planes coming in . He thought it must be the Marines because nobody else would be working on Sunday . ''

The Utah was quickly disabled . Soucy swam 200 yards to shore from the sinking vessel and was quickly recruited , because of his medical training , to help treat the injured .

After the war , Soucy moved to Plainview , where he raised his family . He died in January 2010 ; his wife passed away this year .

The family will take part in the sunset ceremony , accompanied by full military honors , Tuesday at the USS Utah memorial . U.S. Navy divers will help lower the remains inside the vessel .

McCormick said her father spoke at previous symposiums and met Japanese pilots .

`` He forgave , '' McCormick said . `` On his Pearl Harbor Survivors garrison cap he had a button that read ` love not war ' written in Japanese . ''

Bennett , of Battle Ground , Washington , was a radio-trained 17-year-old seaman first class on December 7 , 1941 . He leaves Monday to make the trip to Hawaii , where he had been assigned to a squadron of PBY-3 aircraft at Ford Island .

On the day of the attack , Bennett heard explosions , but thought it might be part of a U.S. military exercise or an accident . He then saw a Japanese plane flying low over barracks near the USS California . He and others worked to put out a fire on a hangar roof , but eventually were ordered to get down .

`` Toward the end , the Japanese started to strafe us up there , '' Bennett told CNN on Friday .

`` We were trained to fight the Japanese , and the Japanese were trained to fight us , '' Bennett said . `` It was the leaders in Japan who made this happen . That 's the way I look at it . I harbor no ill will toward the Japanese today . ''

Martinez and other staff members have recorded video interviews with many veterans , preserving their memories . `` They tell me stories they have n't told their families , '' he said .

Teaching your children

In San Diego , Stu Hedley , 90 , said fewer Pearl Harbor survivors are available in Southern California to give talks to groups or schools . Sixteen members of his chapter have died this year alone .

Hedley , the head of a local survivors chapter , will take part in a December 7 program in San Diego on the USS Midway carrier . A comrade will attend a ceremony at the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center .

`` We 're all moving into our 90s and late 80s , '' Hedley said of the disbanding of the national organization . `` It 's part of life . We have to accept it one day at a time . ''

More than 100 crew members on his ship , the USS West Virginia , were killed in the attack , he said .

Hedley said he believes members of the U.S. government `` sold us out '' in 1941 and made the attack possible . President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted a `` war economy ... and his idea was to let them fire the first shot , '' said the Navy veteran .

These days , Hedley said , he gives two principal admonitions to students .

`` My first warning to you is to stay in school . Do n't quit under any circumstances . '' He recounted dropping out of high school in 1939 , three months before graduation . That kept him from becoming an officer .

`` The other admonition is learn to live with one another , '' he said . `` Regardless of race , creed , religion or whatever . ''

Hedley is concerned about how little many Americans know about Pearl Harbor .

`` I 've had college students who have asked me what Pearl Harbor was , '' he said . `` If you can find a paragraph -LRB- in California textbooks -RRB- about Pearl Harbor , you are doing good . ''

Large said the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors safeguards stories of their parents .

Her late father , Army Cpl. Harry M. Cross , was in an artillery unit at Schofield Barracks and got a close-up view of a Japanese pilot strafing U.S. troops .

`` One of his buddies died in his arms , '' said Large , 63 , of East Canton , Ohio . `` He said he had a hole in his chest where he could put his fist in . ''

Cross never was able to forgive the Japanese , Large said . She , however , supports moving forward and reconciliation .

Large said the Sons and Daughters will take over a national scholarship the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association once managed and invite veterans to its 2012 convention . Pacific Historic Parks will publish a portion of the Gram , the survivors ' newsletter .

Though Large is concerned about what young people know about Pearl Harbor and its role in bringing the United States into World War II , she has experienced good moments during her efforts to spread the word . Students have told her they learned more from one of her talks than from their lessons .

Large recalled talking several years ago to a group of fifth-graders , her father at her side .

`` Afterward , a young boy asked if he could shake his hand . He did so , '' Large said . `` He said ` can I give you a hug ? ' Dad bent down and hugged him . The boy said , ' I wanted to thank you for protecting our freedom . ' ''

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Pearl Harbors Survivors Association formally disbands at end of month

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Another group , individuals are taking up the baton

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This year 's commemoration marks 70 years since Dec. 7 attacks on Oahu

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Cremated remains of two service members will be placed in ships at Pearl Harbor